Seed cleaner and grader



l March14,1939. F. O, TAYLOR 2,150,298

SEED CLEANER AND GRADER Filed Deo. 17,4 195e s Sheets-sheet 1" March 14,1939.

F. o. TAYLOR 2,150,298

SEED CLEANER AND GRADER Filed Dec. 17, V1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 14,1939. F. Q TAYLOR 2,150,298

SEED CLEANER AND 'GEADER Filed Dec. 17, 195e s sheets-snee; s

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f@ j 65 53 A- 50 r E, 2 t" i 66 l g J/ 07/ *Y* fr @www 56' ff 0- Taylor.-\\\\rwgnr f4 Patented Mar. 14, 1939 U N I'TEID :STAT ES PAT E N T GFFICE .Application :December 17, '1936,Serial No. 116,427

This invention relates to a seed cleaner Aand fgrader and constitutesvan improvement in the type of seed cleaner and grader disclosed in -m-y-prior Patent No. 1,833,447, issued November 24, 11931.

The improvement particularly relates to the construction ofthe graindeck 'acrosswhich the grain travels from'the-outlet spout of the hopperto the distributing platform, and one object 'of the invention is to soform the grain deck that the grain will be thoroughly agitated as itmoves across lthe deck and light seed separated lfrom heavy seed whiledust, chaff and the vlike will be blown upwardly 'from thenseed by airpassing upwardly through `the deck.

Another `object `of the 4vinvention .is `to provide the deck with aplurality `ol? bars Vor strips which extend 'longitudinally thereof 4and-are of such outline in cross section that ras famass .of 'grainis-moved along the deck by vibration imparted to the deck the light andlheavy seed 'will be very effectively separated v"from 'each other.

Another object of vthe invention 'is the provision of fan improved brushyoperating over 'the bars of the deck and serving toagitate themass vof:seed moving vacross the deck and thus -eliminate likelihood of theVlight 'and heavy seed not lbeing properly separated from'each other.

Another object ofthe invention Tis to so mount the `rbrush that it may'be adjusted transversely of 'the seed-'engaging bars for s'tripscarriedby the deckfand'thus dispose it in the'pos'ition in 'which' it willloperate lmost effectively -upon thegrain.

Another object o'f 'the invention is to provide improved -means fortransmitting rotary :motion from a shaft of the kapparatus to Ithebrush.

The invention is illustrated in the accompany-- -ing drawings, wherein-Figure lis a perspective xview fof the improved seed 'cleaner andgrader,

Figure 2 isa top plan view'lthereof,

Figure '3is a'sec'tional View Staken through the' :grader -along theline 3-3 of vFigure '12,

'Figure is a fragmentarysectional View upon 'an -:enlarged Ascale takenalong Vthe line f4--4 fof Figure'2,

Fi'gure "5 =is a fragmentary sectional /viewiupon -an enlarged scaletaken along "the Aline l5--5 of Figure '2,

'Figure "6 .is a sectional View taken along the line '6--6 of Figure f4,and

Figure 7 is a View taken :along the .flin-e 'I--l of Figure 5.

Theframe or body I of Sthis .seed-cleaning 'and 'grading lmachineis fof'the :same construction disclosed in the prior patent referred to aboveand has -one wall formed with an opening through which-extendsan airinlet pipe 2 through which air enters the frame, a valve 3 of thebuttery type being mounted in `this inlet pipe so that 'flow of 'airthrough the same may be controlled. A 'fan housing 4 is mounted 1in thebody yand formed with an air inlet 5 in one side and has its outletspout I extending upwardly through the top wall of the body where it isconnected with a fabric conduit 1. The shaft 8 of the fan "9 extendsfrom the fan housing .through a side Wall of the body or frame l andcarries a pulley AI'II! about which engages a belt II. This belt alsoengages about a pulley VI2 carried by the drive shaft I3 rotatablymounted in bearings I4 secured upon supporting holsters I5 which arefirmly secured to one end portion of the upper wall of the body andproject therefrom, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. A second pulley it issecured upon the shaft i3 for engagement by a belt l1 which will betrained about a pulley carried by a motor or other suitable source ofpower. vWhile it'hasbeen stated that the pulleys I2 and I6 are formedseparate from each other and secured upon the shaft, it will be obviousthat they may be made 'as a single double pulley.

'The seed deck which is mounted above the frame or `body I has a top orhousingl defining an air chamber and having its bottom formed with anopening I8 into which fits the upper end of the fabric conduit l. Acollar or sleeve I9 rises from the bottom of the housing I8 about theopening in the bottom thereof and at its upper end this sleeve or neckcarries a head of wire mesh which serves to break up air passing throughthe mesh into a multiplicity of vfine streams of air and thus cause theair to be well distributed in the housing. Reciprocating motion is tolbe imparted to the seed deck and in order 'to mount the deck and permitsuch motion there have been provided struts 2l having their upper endsconnected with shafts 22 mounted in bearings 23 and :their lower endsconnected 'with shafts :24 mounted in bearings 25. A pitman 26 extends`from `the rear shaft 22 adjacent each side of the machine and rear'ends of the pitman rods are eccentri'cally connected with a shaft 2l,as shown at l28, so that, when the shaft 2'! is rotating, reciprocatingmotion will be imparted to the two pitman rods and the seed deckreciprocated. The eccentric connections between the pitman shafts orrods 25 and the shaft 2i are of the same constructionshown in the priorpatent previously referred to. Pulleys 29 and 30 of the i adjustablespeed type are mounted upon the driving shaft I3 and thevdriven shaft 21and about these pulleys engages a belt 3| so that rotary motion atcontrolled speed may be transmitted from the shaft I3 to the shaft 27.

Above the housing I8 is mounted a frame: 32 supported upon upper edgefaces of walls of the housing and between this frame and the housing isa sheet of wire fabric 33. Slats 34 extend transversely of the frame 32in spaced relation to each other and these slats serve as supports for asheet 35 of fine mesh woven wire screening. The sheets of wire 33 and 35serve as distributors for air passing upwardly through the housing I8and over the sheet of wire mesh 35 extend bars 36 which are formed ofmetal and are triangular in cross section. Referring to Figure 3, itwill be seen that the perpendicularly extending side faces of the bars35j face the front of the frame 32 of the deck and the sloping faces ofthe bars face rearwardly of the deck frame. Therefore, when seed isdelivered from the hopper 37 through its discharge spout 38 onto thedeck close to the rear end thereof, an oscillating movement is impartedto the, deck and the seed will be gradually moved toward the forward endof the deck. As the seed move across the ribs or bars 3E, the heavierseed will pass over the bars toward the side rail 39 of the guard frame4Q, whereas the lighter seed will be caught between the bars or strips35 and move toward the side rail 4I of the guard frame. The fact thatstrips or bars 35 are employed to separate the light seed from the heavyseed instead of a coarse' wire screen as shown in the prior patentVpreviously referred to prevents the Vseed from being caught in meshes ofa sheet of coarse wire screen and, therefore, the seed separating deckwill not become clogged. The heavy seed passes` from, the deck andmoves: across a platform 42 from which extend spouts 43 for deliveringthe seed to bags suspended from bag holders lit and the light seeds passacross a platform i5 at the opposite side of the deck and through thespout 46 into sacks suspended from the sack holders lil. The platformsand their spouts and the sack holders are of the same construction shownin the prior patent and, therefore, the sack holders and the mechanism48 for controlling flow of seed from the separating deck has not beenspecically described, The seeds are not only separated into light andheavy seed as they move across the deck but the air passing upwardlyfrom the housing through the slats and the wire mesh 35 carries offchaff and dust and, therefore, the grain will be thoroughly cleaned. Y

During movement of the seed across the deck, it is desired to have theseed agitated by a brushing movement rearwardly of the deck and thusinsure proper grading of the seed along the deck and also permit airmoving upwardly throughY the deck to act upon the seed in an efficientmanne-r to remove all dust and chaff. In order to do so, there has beenprovided a brush '39 which is of the rotary type and consists of a shaftD and bristles 5I extending spirally about the shaft. The shaft extendslongitudinally of the deck over the bars or ribs 36 and has one endmounted in a bearing 52 which is rotatably mounted in a block 53 nearthe upper end thereof. This block 53 is supported upon the longitudinalarcuate arm 54 of a bracket 55, and upon referring to Figure 2 it willbe seen that, when the bracket is secured to the guard rail of the deck,the arm 54' extends transversely of the deck. Therefore, by

sliding the block along the arcuate arm and securing it in an adjustedposition by the set screw 5S, the brush may be disposed in desiredangular relation to the deck and rmly secured in a set position. Theother end of theY shaft is mounted in a bearing 5'! rotatably receivedin the head or block 58 at the lower end of a stem 59. This stem extendsthrough an opening formed in the upper flange 50 of the bridge or crossbar 6I, and referring to Figure 5 it will be seen that the stem may turnfreely in the opening 52 and is held against shifting vertically throughthis opening by upper and lower nuts 53. The upper end portion of thestem is turned to form a handle 64 by means of which the stern may beeasily rotated and its threaded lower end screwed into or removed fromthe socket 65 formed in the block 53. By so mounting the block 58 theshaft 5B may have one end thrust into the opening of the bearing 52carried b-y the block 53, its other end then engaged in the bearing 51and the stem then screwed into the socket 65 to mount the brushlongitudinally of the deck. The openings 66 and 6? of the blocks 52 and5l are eccentric thereto, as clearly shown in Figures 6 and 7, so thatby loosening the set screws 58 and 69 and turning the bearings the brushmay be vertically adjusted and its bristles disposed in proper relationto upper edges of the bars or strips 3G.

The brush is rotated during operation of the machine in a direction toimpel the seed toward the rear end of the deck and thus: prevent toodeep aI mass of seed from approaching the forward portion of the deck.In order to rotate the brush, there has been provided a belt l@ trainedabout a pulley 'II carried by the shaft of the brush and also trainedabout a pulley 'I2 carried by a shaft 13. The shaft 'i3 extendstransversely of the bridge and is rotatably mounted in a bearing 112.carried by the flange G0 of the bridge or cross bar. At the o-ppositeside of the bridge the shaft I3 carries` another pulley I5 engaged by abelt 15 Ywhich extends toward the rear end of the bridge where it isengaged about a pulley TI carried by a shaft 'I8 rotatably mounted in abearing 79. f

The other end portion of the shaft 'i8 carries a pulley 80 above whichis trained a belt 8| which extends downwardly below the deck and isengaged about a pulley 82 carried by a shaft 83 which is rotatablymounted in the arms of a bracket 84. This bracket 84 is secured upon thetopy wall of the frame I and carries a second pu.-

ley 85 about which engages a belt 86 which extends forwardly and isengaged with a pulley 8l carried by the shaft 21. It will thus be seenthat rotary motion will be transmitted from the shaft 2'!V to the shaftof the brush.

When this device is in operation, seed is poured into the hopper 37 andflows through the discharge neck 38 thereof onto the deck at the rearend thereof. Reciprocating motion is' imparted to the deck and duringthis movement the seed will be gradually shifted forwardly along thedeck from the rear end of the deck toward the forward end thereof.During this movement of the seed the heavier seed will more readily passover the sloping surfaces of the bars 36 and will pass from the deckonto the platform #l2 while the lighter seed will move alongV the barsor ribs toward the forward end of the deck onto the platform 45. The airwhich is driven upwardly into the house ing VI8 of the deck passes upthrough the screens and the slats 34 and as it passes through meshes ofthe fine screen 35 between the bars or strips 36 dust and chaff will becarried upwardly by the air current and very effectively separated fromthe seed. By adjusting the belt 3l the speed at which the deckreciprocates and the speed at which the brush rotates may be controlledand by sliding the block 53 along the arm 54 of the bracket 55 theangular relation of the rotary brush to the strips or bars 36 can beregulated.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed as nev7 is:

1. In a seed cleaner and grader, a deck having a frame, a sheet offoraminous material in said frame, strips in said frame over said sheetspaced transversely from each other, a support carried by said frame andhaving an arcuate bar extending transversely of said strips, a mountingcarried by said bar and adjustable longitudinally thereon, a bearingcarried by said mounting, a second support spaced from the rst supportlongitudinally of said strips, a mounting having a pivotal connectionWith the second support for turning adjustment about a vertical axis, abearing carried by the second mounting, a rotary brush extendinglongitudinally of said strips and rotatably mounted in said bearings,the brush being eccentric to the bearings and the bearings being adaptedto be turned in the mounting to adjust the brush relative to the strips,means for imparting rotary motion to said brush, and means for actuatingsaid deck and causing movement of seed along the deck across saidstrips.

2. In a seed cleaner and separator, a deck having a frame, a foraminoussheet in said frame, strips mounted in said frame over said sheet, abridge extending across said frame, a bearing supported from said bridgeand mounted for pivotal adjustment, a bracket carried by said frame inspaced relation to said bridge longitudinally of said strips and havingan arcuate arm constituting a segment of a circle having as its centerthe pivotal mounting of said bearing, a bearing carried by the arm ofsaid bracket and adjustable longitudinally thereon, a rotary brushextending longitudinally of said strips and having its shaft journaledin said bearings, and means for imparting rotary motion to said brush.

3. In a seed cleaner and grader, a deck mounted for reciprocatingmovement, a bridge extending across said deck and having a laterallyextending flange at its upper end, a stem disposed vertically throughsaid ange and rotatably mounted, a mounting at the lower end of saidstem, a bearing rotatably carried by said mounting, a bracket at theopposite end of said deck from said bridge,'a mounting carried by saidbracket and adjustable thereon longitudinally of said bridge in anarcuate path concentric to said stem, a bearing rotatably carried by thelastmentioned mounting, a brush extending between the bridge and bracketand rotatably mounted in said bearings eccentric thereto whereby uponturning said bearings, in the mountings the brush may be verticallyadjusted, adjustment of the last-mentioned bearing alo-ng said bracketserving to horizontally adjust said brush, and means for transmittingrotary motion to said brush.

FRANK O. TAYLOR.

